Southeast, Barnett End Talks

December 6, 1985|By John G. Edwards, Business Writer

Southeast Banking Corp. of Miami announced on Thursday that it dropped plans to merge with Jacksonville-based Barnett Banks of Florida Inc. to make what would have been the largest bank holding company in the southeastern United States.

The two largest Florida-based banking companies, which started negotiations Nov. 22, could not agree on an exchange ratio for a stock swap nor on an organizational structure, according to Southeast.

``While the prospect of combining Southeast, Florida`s premier corporate bank, with Barnett, the state`s leading retail bank, was alluring, those very diverse attributes also hindered a quick combination of the two companies,`` Southeast Bank officials said in a statement.

Southeast, which owns one large bank, has centralized management, but Barnett has decentralized operations. And Southeast said that its stockholders would be best served by breaking off discussions, because Southeast`s earnings are rising.

In the second half of 1985, Southeast said it will post ``the best performance from fundamental banking operations in the company`s history.``

Barnett did not issue a statement, and company spokesmen could not be reached for comment.

Analysts had said the merger would be tough to accomplish given the size of the institutions and the differences that had to be resolved. Barnett has $13.8 billion in assets, and Southeast has $10.5 billion. The combined companies would have had 29 percent of the deposits in Florida.